Descended by Blood (18 page)

“True, but that means she’d have to contact him and tell him about me, and I prefer to deal with one thing at a time.” I glanced up at the clock above the entry into the kitchen. I had only a few moments left. “I gotta go soon, so tell me what’s been going on with you.”

“Nothing much here. Jaren’s been minding his p’s and q’s, and Ace has been showing me around a bit.”

Lijepa came into the kitchen. She didn’t say anything, but I knew I needed to hang up. When I did, I set the sat phone on the table for Mirko to find.

Lijepa left the kitchen, so I followed her out and down a hall that led to a small room on the main floor. It was a cozy small den with soft whites and bright blues.

She sat on a sofa and patted the seat next to her. “Have a seat, dear. Let’s try to help you figure out what to do with your power. Or powers. I sense you have many of them.”

I sat with my eyes bulging. “As in more than one?” I was afraid of the one, and now she was telling me I might have many?

Lijepa patted my knee. “You have great strength, my child. As I said in the kitchen, you descended from one of the most powerful lines in the history of Pijawikas. You must embrace this strength.”

I twisted my hands together. “Can you understand where my resistance is coming from? Why I don’t want to embrace something that I feel might turn me into a monster?”

“Oh, my dear child. I do, and I won’t lie to you and tell you that embracing your Pijawikan side will not change you in ways you may not like. Many people who have changed over become someone they never would have foreseen. The power, the strength, the virtual immortality that comes with it—it does something to the mind, something to the soul, that corrupts it. So, your conflict with this is justified. However, you do not have the luxury to remain as you are.”

I took what she said as a loss. I could feel things would never be the same for me, but I still hoped they could be.

“Don’t despair, dear. You can surrender to your enemies and allow them to use you in a way that I am sure would be harmful for mankind. Or, you can embrace your Pijawikan side with your determination to remain good, and use that to uphold justice, maybe not peace because war is inevitable, but justice and freedom for all races.”

“And how exactly do I do that?”

“You have to embrace your Pijawikan side. You have to become someone the race would feel is a shame to be without.”

“Or if I embrace it, those who would have remained neutral will pick a side. And I fear it won’t be mine. I’m not supposed to be this strong, am I?”

She shook her head.

“They’ll think, ‘How is it that the melez gets such strength and power?’ They might want me dead even more, because of that,” I said.

“You’re right. Many will fall to the side that does not benefit you. But it is your job to obtain as many of them as you can. Pijawikas might be resistant to change, but we have had to adapt in order to survive and stay hidden for so long. Eventually, it will come down to surviving once again. Things are going to change, my dear, and it is up to you, if you would like to be weak during the upheaval, or be strong and help usher in the kind of change that you would like to see and live with.”

She was right. Things were going to change for me whether I wanted them to or not, like fall giving way to winter. And apparently, I was going to have a major role in this change. I could sit back and let others decide what role I would take, or I could carve it out for myself.

I decided in that moment that I wanted a choice in how things changed. And I wanted things to be the best they could be for me and those I cared for. If it meant I had to do things I was afraid of to keep Kaitlynn, Jaren, Mirko, and my mom safe, I would do those things.

I squared my shoulders. “All right. Tell me what I have to do.”

20

Until I’m Dead

Lijepa began our training by telling me about one of my powers. “It tastes similar to the chameleon, but it’s a little different, and I can’t figure out why.”

“Well, what is the chameleon power?” I asked not sure how this was supposed to help me.

“It’s not really called that. That’s what I have come to call it. The technical term is
nestati
, or to disappear. You should be able to hide yourself from the sight of others.”

I straightened my spine and pulled my feet up under me on the couch. “So, what does that mean? Do I change colors to match my surroundings, or what?”

Her shoulders bounced with her hearty laugh. “No, dear, you change your vibration to a pitch that is unseen by the eye. Even the Pijawikan eye.”

My jaw dropped. “That’s possible?”

She nodded.

“And you’re going to teach me this?”

“It will be difficult for you to learn, but I will do what I can to teach you.”

“Wow.” That actually sounded kind of cool. Like a superpower you only see done in the movies and think it’d be cool if you could do it in real life. And I actually could.

“But, I can’t figure out what exactly is different. It tastes different on you.”

“How so?” Maybe it was all screwed up, and I’d never be able to do it.

“Well, it’s hard to explain, but chameleon tastes salty and sharp at the back of my throat. And I taste that on you, but it has a bitter undertone that sticks to the roof of my mouth.”

I didn’t know how to interpret that, but “bitter” was never good.

“I wouldn’t worry about it, except I’ve never tasted that last part before. On anyone. I think the approach we should take is to try to train the chameleon power and hope the other part reveals itself.”

“Okay. What do I need to do?”

She tilted her head and stared at me. “I think we need to get you in control of Sanjam first.”

“Oh.” I wasn’t as excited about that one.

“Getting control of this first will strengthen any other power you have. As you probably know, every Pijawika and Zao Duh have some degree of Sanjam. And humans are more vulnerable to it than we are because their minds are weaker.”

I furrowed my eyebrows. “I was able to do it to a Pijawika, though.”

“Yes, dear, that’s because you are very strong.” She grinned.

“Well, how did I even know how to do it in the first place? No one ever taught me. I saw Mirko use it twice and then I could just...do it.” I rubbed my arms. It was starting to get chilly in here. I looked out the den’s window.

“It’s snowing!” It never snowed this early in Virginia. And these were large flakes, too. “They’re the size of cotton balls.”

“Oh, yes, I get a great deal of snow up here. It’s a bit early still, so it should be melted soon if it doesn’t continue on like this much longer.”

I beamed. The way the snow fell made me happy. It seemed almost ethereal. Something heavenly in my world of chaos. A sign that there could be beauty in discomforting change.

“Here you are, dear,” Lijepa said, reaching behind the couch and pulling out a blanket. She handed it to me and tucked it in around me.

“Thanks.” I snuggled into the blanket.

“You’re welcome. Now, back to Sanjam. Have you ever heard that humans only use ten percent of their brains?”

“Yeah, and how we’re supposed to be able to do marvelous things if we were to use more of it.”

“That’s right. Well, Pijawikas use more than just the ten percent,” she said, tapping the side of her head. “This is where our powers, Sanjam, all of it, comes from.”

“Mirko said I was going through a sort of awakening. That my Pijawikan side was only showing now because I was allowing it to.”

“He’s right. And the more you allow it to come through, the more you’ll be able to do and quicker, too.”

Could she feel my lingering resistance to all this? I tried to be open to it, but the fear remained deep rooted within me. Who knew what I was actually capable of? Who knew what degree of pain I could cause, intentional or not? “What kinds of powers does my dad have?”

Her teeth gleamed in the light. “He’s probably one of the strongest Pijawikas with Sanjam I’ve ever known of. I’m sure that’s where you get your strength from. He can stop an ancient Pijawika, midattack.”

That reminded me. “I stopped a mountain lion midattack once.”

Her eyes glittered. “Really?” she asked. “Tell me.”

I did.

“Yes. You are definitely Zladislov’s daughter. Some people have the power to communicate with animals and suggest or ask them to do things, which I think is what that fellow did when the lion came after you. But from what you just described, you did something different. You controlled the animal. This is rare. An animal’s brain functions differently than ours or that of a humans. Animals are a lot more stubborn and less malleable, so being able to do what you did is something very special indeed, my dear.”

I liked Lijepa. She reminded me of Kaitlynn in the way she accepted me and thought highly of me. There was no judgment from Mirko, but I felt forced to accept things from him. But with Kaitlynn and Lijepa, I felt extraordinary and a small amount of my fear about who I was flaked away. I looked forward to introducing Kaitlynn to her. She’d like Lijepa.

“Oh, look at that,” Lijepa said, glancing up at the clock. “I need to teach you something before we’re finished here.”

I was under the impression she’d taught me about a lot today.

“First things first,” she said and then put her feet up on the couch, mirroring me. “I want you to focus in on my mind like you did with Zack. I don’t want you to do anything once you’re inside there. I only want you to try to find the pathways.”

I gulped. I doubted I could do that.

“Just look at me, and try to find them.”

I looked at her and shook my hands out. I exhaled a deep breath and cleared my mind. Then, I focused on her mind and tried to reach into it the way I did with Zack’s. Nothing. “It’s blocked. It’s not open like his was.”

“Very good, dear. Yes, I’m stronger than he was, so it’s going to be harder to reach mine. I want you to focus on finding an opening. Everyone has one; you just have to find it.”

I had no clue what she meant. I’ve never done that before, but I tried to mentally find a place that didn’t block me. I thought of different areas and tried to wiggle from different angles, but failed to find it.

“I can’t do it,” I said, growing weary.

“In time, you will. I’m sure of it. You’re new to this, so it will take a while for you to pinpoint those areas or to break through others. You did a fine job today. You’re free to go.”

“Thank you. And thanks for all your help with the other stuff, too. About making me feel better about who I am.”

She smiled. “You’re welcome, dear.” She leaned forward and embraced me. “Same time tomorrow.”

I nodded and folded the blanket I’d used, placing it on the back of the couch as I left the den.

On my way back downstairs, I stopped in the kitchen. I was ravenous. I pulled one of the BLTs out of the fridge that Lijepa stashed away in there from lunch. I didn’t even bother to warm it up. I just ate. It was still good, too. I grabbed a string cheese out of the fridge’s door, and I padded my way down to the lair.

Mirko sat in his room when I came down. I strolled in, putting the last strip of string cheese in my mouth.

“How’d it go?” Mirko asked.

“Not bad. Pretty good, actually,” I said, sitting next to him on his bed.

His lip curled. “Oh, really? Do tell.”

“Well, Lijepa? She’s cool. And I really like her. She made me feel as if I could actually use this part of me that I’ve hated for good. I dunno. Usually, I despise myself and feel disgusted when I think about my Pijawikan side. And I don’t feel that so much right now.”

His cheeks lifted with a proud smile. “That’s good, Slatki. What’d you learn from her?”

“Oh. So, she said I have this power similar to a chameleon.” His eyes bugged. “Yeah, I can go invisible. Well, we don’t know until I do it, but the probability is there. So, I was thinking. If I could get close to Jelena, I could use my chameleon thing and sneak up on her to kill her.”

His smile turned sour.

“What?” I asked. I thought it was a great idea.

He sighed. “Honestly? A couple of things.”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s pyrokinetic, remember? Even if you could get close enough to her, you’d have to kill her as soon as you touched her, or she could start you on fire.”

“Well, that’s what I’ll do, then.” I’d have to be quick, but I could do it.

“Right, but it gets even more complicated than that.”

“How?” What else could there be? I couldn’t imagine a way for it to get worse than her burning me alive.

“You
can’t
kill her.”

“I know I’m new at this, but if we trained longer, and I worked really hard—”

“No,” Mirko said, cutting me off. “It’s not that you’re not physically able. You know how the Mafia built itself off the structure of the Pijawikas?”

“Yeah, but what do they have to do with it?”

He shook his head. “They don’t. You’re getting ahead of me. Anyway, are you familiar with the term ‘Made Man’?”

“Yeah, David, that’s Kaitlynn’s boyfriend. He has that game Mafia, and you could become a Made Man, where they can’t kill you.” I paused. It hit me so hard, I felt faint. “I can’t kill her. Others will come after me in retribution.”

“Yes. They will.”

I flopped down on the bed, covering my head with my arm. “So, what do I do? How am I ever going to get my life back? She’ll keep coming after me. Until I’m dead.”

“She might,” Mirko said, lying down beside me.

I turned over to him, resting my head on my hand. “No, she will.”

“We’ll find someone who’s willing to risk it.” His face lit up like he knew who this person was.

“How do we do that?”

“Already found him. It’s me.”

21

Taste Your Temptation

“No,” I said, sitting up. “Not you.”

“Why? I can do it. And I would rather die than go back to the way things were. It wasn’t good for me, Brooke.”

The moment was thick, almost as if he were crying in front of me. He’d called me by my name, and the way he stared at me caused my heart to ache and my flesh to burn. “I know, but they’re not even aware you have any part in this right now. I should be the one to do it.”